Just a little note to let folks know that 28 households are thankful this Thanksgiving we are in "one big house" that is the Nicollet Housing Cooperative.
We finally closed the deal on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, after working on the project for about one year. We began exploring the possibility last late-summer or fall, first move-ins occured in springtime, and now the deal is finalized after much work on the part of many people.
And so a huge building that sat cold and empty for two or three(?) years after serving as a hospital and then as "Good Samaritan" nursing home is now full of light and life. People of a great variety of ages, races, colors and creeds now form a cooperative corporation rooted in the neighborhood and in cooperative principles of economic democracy.
We are our own landlord -- setting up budget spreadsheets to cover short and long-range maintenance concerns, doing the work of cleaning and maintaining our property, and becoming a little village or extended family as we work together.
Co-op members have participated in neighborhood events -- the King Field yard sale, the national night out block party, the MLK Park Halloween celebration, and other doings as well.
This process has been long and not without challenges. We will face more challenges in the future, no doubt. But 28 families are grateful to finally be a legally-formed, bona fide cooperative this Thanksgiving!
-- pedaling for peace and justice throught the cool-ish weather of late....
-- Gary Hoover
King Field
